Peter Brandon discusses the essence of Christianity, emphasizing that it is not merely about being good or attending church, but fundamentally about the need for a Savior. He illustrates this through a parable of miners trapped underground, drawing parallels to humanity's lost state due to sin and the necessity of divine intervention. Brandon highlights that Jesus, the light of the world, came to seek and save the lost, offering hope and salvation to all who believe. He encourages listeners to trust in Christ for their salvation, reminding them of the peace and assurance that comes from a relationship with Him. Ultimately, the message is a call to recognize our need for Jesus and to accept His gift of eternal life.

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite composers, He has composed many of the songs in my lectures, and he is one of the greatest composers ever. He is a great musician, and he has a song called All You Need is Love. He was born in New York, in 1933, and he has been living in New York for the past 20 years. He is a really special person. He is a very talented musician, Hello listeners, greetings to you all and a warm welcome is yours to our program today. This is your friend Harry Venton presenting for your listening enjoyment another 30 minutes of inspirational music together with a meditation from God's Word the Bible. We are pleased to have Peter Brandon with us again and the devotion Peter will share with you later in the program, he has titled it, What is Christianity all about? It is our prayer through our ministry today that God will touch your heart and you will have the assurance of his abiding presence and comfort in your life. Now let's enjoy together our first recording, a medley entitled Wonderful Peace. Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, sweep over my spirit with forever I pray, in boundless fields of love. Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight, though the melody's weaker than song, intellect like rain, it unceasingly falls on my soul like an infinite song. Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, sweep over my spirit with forever I pray, in boundless fields of love. There comes to my heart one sweet strain. Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, sweep over my spirit. In Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 3 we read these words, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. Friend, we can experience a deep, settled peace in every emergency if we keep our minds fixed upon the One who is the source of our peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian's rest is an active reliance on the mighty and everlasting arms of God. Contentment of heart depends upon more than good feelings or a trouble-free environment. It comes as we build our lives on God's unfailing promises despite the intensity of outward conflicts. A contest was held in which artists were invited to paint a picture of perfect peace. The judges eventually narrowed down the number of competitors to two men who had beautifully portrayed this concept on canvas. The first created a scene of a still, lone lake high in the mountains. The second depicted a thundering waterfall with the branch of a birch tree bending over the foam. On the fork of that limb, wet with spray, a robin sat undisturbed on her nest. The first picture spoke of tranquillity, but the second won the prize. It showed in dramatic detail that absolute calmness can be found in the midst of turbulent surroundings. Friends, it is easy to remain unruffled when everything is quiet and serene, but to rest while the storm is raging, that is perfect peace. As you face the trials and testings of life, turn all your anxieties over to the Lord Jesus Christ, centre your thoughts on Him and the precious promises of His Word and you will experience a peace that passes all understanding. Now following on from our next recording, Peter Brandon will share his devotion with you. God is peace like a river Peace like a river God is peace like a river In my soul God is peace like a river Peace like a river God is peace like a river In my soul Peace like a river God is joy like a river In my soul God is joy like a river Joy like a river God is joy like a river In my soul God is river God is love like a river In my soul God is love like a river Love like a river God is love like a river In my soul God is life like a river God is grace like a river In my soul God is grace like a river Grace like a river God is grace like a river In my soul My subject today will simply be this, what is Christianity all about? I was in a school and I put this question to some boys and girls in their late teens and some people thought that Christianity was all about being good other people thought it was going to church and so on and when I came from that school room I thought well how important it is to explain to people what Christianity is all about So dear friends this is the verse and I want to try and explain it to you for a few moments if you will give me your hearing It's in Luke 19 verse 10 For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Many years ago there was a tremendous explosion in the heart of Germany in a particular iron ore mine and when that mine went up in smoke hundreds of people lost their lives but from that mine disaster a wonderful parable was given when about 40 men were rescued and I want to draw a parallel from that mine story a group of miners got into the cage and they were hurried down to the bowels of the earth and they didn't basically realize what was going to happen otherwise they would never have gone down and when they got to the depth of the earth they were digging for iron ore and suddenly there was a violent explosion that shook the whole mine and eventually they could see that the water system of the mine had broken up and there were bubbles of water appearing under their feet it wasn't long before that water turned into a stream and from a stream into a torrent of death and fortunately their foreman knew the geography of the mine very well and he told these men to follow him and as they were wading through the water they came eventually to a rock upon which they climbed and here were 40 men away from the light away from life shutting in darkness with no hope whatever they were lost now dear friends in one way the human race is just like that it is away from God but why is it away from God? because of the ugly fact of sin the scripture teaches your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear now of course people don't talk very much about sin but that is my dear friends the number one problem in the world today the irritation, the selfishness, the bad temper, the lust that is prevalent in the world is the most killing disease that we have and every single one of us including the speaker is guilty of personal sin these men who were Germans tried fanatically to get out of that situation they even tried to scratch through the rock because they thought that if they could get to the other side of the wall there might be some kind of safety for them and those men when they were found had no skin on their hands and for 24 hours they were trying to scratch through rock to get to the light and after a gallant attempt some of them fell exhausted and they knew that they were beaten there was nothing that they could do to scratch themselves to the light and dear friends there is nothing that the human family can do in order to get right with God now it's a good thing to go to a place of worship but that will not make you right with God it's a good thing to do the very best you can and I believe many of you try and do that but that will not make you right with God there is nothing that the human family can do that can really make you right with God if we are going to be made right with God it's only God that can do it eventually the news leaked out that there could be 40 people still alive and this is the irony of the story they had a funeral in a Lutheran church and they thought 400 people were dead when 40 people were actually still alive two men were miraculously released from the mine not from this part of the mine from another part of the mine and they heard these people scratching upon rock and they let out the news that there could be 40 still alive and they knew if they were alive they were on this particular rock because that was the only place where they could possibly be alive they hired a German engineer and he sunk a shaft and it came right over the heads of these poor stranded miners now I want you to imagine this 40 men in the darkness waiting to die they hear a rumbling over their heads and when the drill is taken out they see light and when they saw light they just wept with emotion light isn't it a lovely word you know dear friends Jesus said that he was the light of the world that meant he was the one that gave us light about God light about our condition and light on the way in which we can get back to God that's why when he was here he said I am the way the truth and the light and then they dropped a red telephone and someone picked up this red telephone and this is what he heard hold on men don't give up I'm going to send down a saviour and so a promise was made that a saviour was coming and that is the story of the Old Testament over and over again God makes promises that he's going to send a saviour and therefore in the Old Testament we find the birth of Christ predicted we find the kind of life that he would live and the miracles that he did all predicted and then in the Old Testament we find even the kind of death that he was going to die all predicted and what God was saying in those Old Testament scriptures I'm going to send a saviour but of course promising them a saviour didn't really give them an immediate saviour they wanted a doctor that was going to be willing enough to give his life to save 40 men they wanted someone strong enough to save 40 men and it took them 48 hours now think of that 48 hours to find a saviour and then a German surgeon came forward 38 years of age a brilliant young man an ex-rugby player weighed 40 and a half stone and he volunteered to go down and it was a great moment when the world on the television saw this young man first of all his three children kissed him goodbye then his wife hugged him and said goodbye his mum and dad very emotionally said goodbye and then they strapped him in a chair called the chair of elevation and they hurried him down to the bows of the earth and when he went down the man who was giving the viewing actually said this ladies and gentlemen he's gone from the light into the darkness from death from life right into the jaws of death and that's what your saviour did he couldn't save us in heaven he had to come into this world and when he came into this world he said lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will O God and when he came here he did something that the German saviour couldn't do he went to a cross of wood and on that cross he allowed a holy God to plunge upon him the sins of the whole world the scripture says he bare our sins in his own body on the tree the word of God says in Isaiah 53 he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and he died on that cross because he loved us and he wanted to save us but when the German saviour got down there was a panic someone wanted to be the first one up how selfish people can be even when they're in the midst of a predicament unfortunately he had the wisdom to put the man down forcibly and then he shouted and said this I'll not save one of you until you promise to give me your faith and obedience and he went to one man that was so weak he couldn't even lift his arms and he said to him would you allow me to save you and the man just nodded his head and I want you to watch those I want you to see those 39 men watching one man being saved and the German saviour lifted him up in his arms put him in the chair of elevation strapped him in and he said in German what I'm going to say in English up and then they saw the act of saving they saw the man being lifted from darkness into light from death right into life and when the news got out up top there was a terrific cheer for almost a hundred thousand people waiting and there was a cheer and there was one word on their lips saved for they knew if one was saved they could all be saved you know dear friends I saw that happen in the spiritual I saw a man who was a major in the army who had lived a pretty bad life and he knelt down and with a broken heart he confessed the Lord that he was a poor lost sinner and then he told the Lord that he believed Christ died for him and then I read a scripture to him whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved and that man in simple phrase called out Lord would you save a sinner like me and spiritually he was lifted from the darkness of sin into the light of God's presence from eternal death into everlasting life and beloved friends that savior is near you and what he did for Ross Adams he can do for you remember the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost with all him I true to nothing with all him I truly say with all him I would be drifting like a ship without a sail Jesus, oh Jesus you know him today will not turn him away oh Jesus, oh Jesus without him, oh Lord, I would sing without him, I would be dying without him, I'd be in flames without him, I'd be hopeless but with Jesus, thank God, I'm saved Jesus, oh Jesus you know him today will not turn him away oh Jesus, oh Jesus without him, oh Lord, I would be some unknown poet has penned the following words I'm going to quote and I would like you to listen to them I have a soul to be saved may this truth be engraved in my mind and heart today oh how awful the cost if my soul should be lost and I die in my sins without him friends, it is true we all need a savior to deliver us from the consequences of our sins God, seeing our deep need for a savior sent his beloved son to die for us and our Lord Jesus was willing to make that supreme sacrifice for our salvation as your Christian friends we would urge you to consider seriously the great importance of knowing Jesus Christ as your personal savior prayerfully, we invite you to put your faith and trust in him today rest on the promise of God's word in John chapter 5 and verse 24 he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but is passed from death unto life my dear friend if you do just that I can say on the authority of God's word all will be well with your soul As we bring our program to a close we remind listeners of our free cassette offer today's program has been recorded on cassette and is available to you free and postpaid to obtain your copy just address your request to Times of Refreshing Post Office Box 66 Lillydale 3140 When writing be sure to mention this number in your letter 930 Program number 930 and the address again is Times of Refreshing Post Office Box 66 Lillydale 3140 This broadcast has been a radio missionary outreach of the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Victoria and is made possible by God's provision through His people Thank you friends for your company today until next we meet this is Harry Venton on behalf of Peter Brandon and the Voice of Melody team wishing you God's richest blessing goodbye for now and remember keep looking up